Garment or the like



H. L. WILLIAMS GARMENT 0R Tm: LIKE Filed May 18. 1946 Patented Aug. 8,1950 y x.

Y v 2,517,745;A y GARMENT' on THE LIKE lelarveyA L. Williams, Hadlyme,conn. Application May 18, 1946, Serial'No. 670,825

Claims.

This invention relates to a water-tight enclosure of the type whichincludes water-proof clothing, sleeping bags,` covers, etc.

Men who are by accident, by occupation, Vor in connection withrecreational activities subjected to immersion or exposure to drivingrainorspray for varying periods of time may suffer seriously fromv lossof body heat unless they are protected from the water. In water attemperatures such Aas are encountered in the North `Atlantic and (c1. zsz) Pacific Oceans in winter, loss of lbody heat `may y causeunconsciousness in periods of less than minutes. Consequently, a garmentsuitable for keeping the wearer and his normal clothing dry must be onethat can be very quickly donned, very rapidly sealed against leakage orentrance of water, positively sealed at wrists and neck, light inweight, stowed in small space, and easily entered in time of need andemergencies (such as bailing out of aircraft Orabandoning ship). This`has in the past been considered extremely dim-cult, if notimpossible-of attainment, even by use of water-proof` clothing, largelybecause of the contours of the neck and movements which it is necessaryto accommodatewhile at, the same time providing a substantiallywatertight seal around thek neck while, protecting the neck againstconstrictive pressure `which might cut 01T blood circulationor otherbodily func-l tions. Notwithstanding these recognizeddii-' culties, Ihave now designed a garment which;

has proven effective to protect the wearer under the most severeconditions of emergency. For` this purpose I have designed a novel typeof neck closure and a slide fastener specially located .with

respect to the body contours and with respect to the upperv edge of theneck band.

One important feature of the garment or other.

enclosure made according to my invention is the utilization for aclosure of a sheet of rubber or other resiliently elastic material oflow modulus of elasticity adapted to assume the approximately circularform of the neck atits upper edge land to yield readily to `changes otfthe size of the neck due to breathing, muscular action'and/or movementsof the head, and to accommodate persons with necks of respectivelydifferent sizes without exerting excessive pressure. I have lfound thatthis is feasible with a material having a modulus elasticity of aboutthat of vulcanized pure gum rubber, and I have found that such sizevariations are accommodated withgreater comfort to the wearer, if theelastic neck band is made in the form of a truncated cone, ratherthan acylinder, and with the sides of thecone sloping with respect to the axisat an acute angle..

I have found, moreover, that both comfort and eciency of the necklclosure, are improved by making it of greater height thanit-willactually assume in use, i. e., of greater height `than that-.Portion OfhsWSererS. seek. whiehisigbeeva ered-by it. Thus theelastic'neck band falls nat. urally into annular folds which morereadily. ac" commodate the movements of the head without` noticeableresistance or other serious discomfort to the wearer. It is possible tomake such a neckl closure in endless form so that it can be stretchedsumciently to allow ones head tobe inserted through" the opening.However, this` requires an opening in the back or front of the suitthrough which the wearer enters the suit. It is necessary first toinsert the feet and body and afterwards to insert the head andshoulders. This is a slow and unnatural method of entry and one whichrequires excess material in the suit itself to permit` v the entry ofthe head and shoulders, resulting in wearer and without impairingtheeiciency of,` the fluid-tight seal against the neck of the wear er. Thisis accomplished in part by the location and length of the closure orslide ifastener as used in such a suit and in part by the form of theneck sband and its relation to the upfper end of the' closure or slidefastener;

In :a garment utilizing this feature of my invention, the slide fastenerfollows an approxi-- mately straight line from a point -high on the neckat the side of the head substantially behind the ear lobe olf the wearerdown the side of the chest toward the front thereof and, if desired,f

farther along the side of the waist and side of the leg toward the frontthereof, advantageously to a point below the widest part of the buttocksso as to facilitate entering and removing the' garment. By virtue ofthis location, the. slide fastener or other closure is subjected torelatively little twisting; it not only Ifollows an approximatelystraight line but also` lies approximatelyyy in one plane. .At the upperend it is bentgsoniewhat and slightly twisted, to bring it flat against.

the side of the neck. At the shoulder it may be twisted slightly to meetthe more nearly transverse plane at .that point. For the rest of its`length, the fastener lies substantially in a di'- algonlal plane, and,if the garment is suiciently" loose at the shoulders, it will tend tofollow this same plane throughout from top to bottom.

B-y virtue of the fastener being turned some-v what toward the rear in adiagonal line across the neck closure, such change as is necessary toaccommodate the difference between the plane of` the side of the chestandthe plane tangent4 to the side of the neck is accommodated: chiey bylengthwise bend Yin the fastener.` llitd 0f `by a. torsional ,twist aSWould De;

It is an important advantage of the- 3 the case if the fastener wentstraight up the front center of the suit and thence across the neckband. A further important advantage of this diagonal arrangement of theslide fastener in the neck band is that the greater flexibility of thefastener chain to longitudinal bending allows the neck band to fit moreaccurately to the curvature of the neck, and thus to avoid leakagefrequently encountered heretofore. It also allows the excess width ofthe neck band to be compressed with formation of annular folds in thesheet of elastic material while the closure or fastener itself remainsstraight without buckling. It also brings the top end of the slidefastener to a .point higher on the neck than any other practicallocation and substantially higher than a closure beneath the chin.

, A further. feature ofthe invention lies in extending the rubber orother sheet material ofr the neck band along the slide fastener to ahigher level on the rear side of the inside fastener (where itsupperedge lforms an obtuse angle with the longitudinal aXis of the fastener)than on the opposite side (where the. upper edge forms an acute angle).This produces an unbalanced condition with respect to the top of theslide fastener or other closure which draws the fastener against theneck and improves the seal of the neck closure at this point.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to produce a neckclosure which will seal more securely to the neck embraced by it thanhas heretoforebeen feasible without undue pressure against the neck.Another object is to provide a neck closure adapted to fit a range ofneck sizes and to accommodate variations in size of the vneck withoutserious increase in pressure. Another object of the invention is toprovide a water-tight` garment to be readily opened and closed by aslide fastener and to be rapidly donned in emergencies. Another objectof the invention is to provide a closure means for a garment, sleepingbag, litter cover or the like extending from the top of the. neck to apoint below the buttocks, in which torsional stresses in the closure aresubstantially avoided. Another object is to provide a design ofwater-tight garment which avoids the need for using excess material inorder to provide for donning or removing the garment, with consequentreduction in weight andstowage space required. Another object is toprovide a water-tight garment ythe wearer of which may loosen or undothe neck. thereof.

when it is not needed to be completely closed to.

exclude water from the suit, by use of one hand and by a simplemotio-nrequiring a minimum of bodily movement. Another object is toprovide a garment which-the wearer may don in advance of immersion, orin anticipation thereof, and in which the wearer may perform normallyactive taskswithout undue discomfort or hinderance, which may be leftopen conveniently to provide ventilation to the body until the fewseconds 4 from the following specification and claims and accompanyingdrawings.

In the specification and drawings, I have shown and described a;preferred embodiment of my inventionvv and have suggested variousmodications thereof, but it is to be understood that these are 'notintended to be` exhaustive or limiting of the' invention, but on thecontrary are given for purposes of illustration in order that othersskilled in the art may fully understand the invention and the principlesthereof, and the best manner of applying it in practical use, so thatthey may modify and adapt it in various forms, each as may be bestsuited to the conditions of a particular use.r I f -f' In the drawings:-f

Figure l is a View in elevation of a man dressed in a garment embodyingthe present invention;

Figure 2 is a view on an enlarged scale of a head and the neck portions;

Figure 3 is a vertical section yof one type of waterproof fastener thatmay be used on my garment.

Referring to these drawings, I have shown in Figure l a man dressed in atypical immersion suit embodying my inventions. Such a suit may beprovided for aviators flying over cold waters, construction workersworking in water or subject to sudden immersion, Sportsmen, sailors andfishermen when working Yunder storm conditions or in danger of goingoverboard, for shallow diving with a diving mask, or as a life-savingsuit when it becomes necessary to bail out or abandon ship. It isessential with such an emergency garment that it becapable of being puton and closed with utmostspeed and with no danger of jamming in theclosure. Moreover, the garment should be capable of being worn byseveral sizes' of normal person.

Boots I2 are made integral in the embodiment shown, so that there is nodanger of leakage be-- tween the boots and the cover-all garment. Thegarment itselfis of a suitable water-proof inaterial such, for example,as a rubberized fabric, and the ends of the sleeves are secured to wristbands I4 or closures which are frusto-conical members of thin sheetrubber or other flexible resiliently elastic sheet material of lowmodulus elasticity and having the sides of the cone at an acute angle toits axis. The control opening is slightly smaller than the smallestwrist that it is likelyto be 'called upon to t; and, due to its naturedescribed above, Ythis will readily allow passage of larger hands, andwill accommodate normally larger wrists without substantialdiscomfortfto the wearer and without cutting off blood circulation'tothe hands.

Alternatively, if desired, the sleeves may be integrally secured towater-proof gloves in the same. manner that the legs are secured to theboots.

The garment I0 is cut with an opening about the base of the neck of thewearer and larger than the neck;V and adjacent this opening it issecured `in Water-tight relation, e. g. by stitching and/or cementing orvulcanizing the water-proof fabric of the garment to a truncated cone ofsheet rubber of llow fmodulus of elasticity, comparable to that of thinpure gum rubber, which forms the neck band IB.- This neck band I6 asshown is substantially wider than the normal height of a mans neck, sothat-when worn it will naturally' Y assume annular folds as illustratedin Figure v2.

This, as already stated'bove, gives greater ease and flexibility ofmotion than'if'the neck 'banderal openings.

fitted closely7 throughout the neck of the wearer.

As best shown in Figure 2, the neck band is severed on a diagonal lineand the respective ends are secured to a slide fastener I8, but the end22 of the neck band which extends from the slide fastener rearwardly andforms an obtuse angle extends to a higher level on the neck than theopposite end 24 which is secured to the forward side of the slidefastener. The upper end of the slide fastener 20 as shown lies normallyjust behind the lobe of the wearers ear and extends diagonally downacross the neck band to the side of the chest and thence along the sideof the wearer alittle toward the front to a .point on the leg just belowthe level of the buttocks.

'Ihe slide fastener as shown is of the waterproof type fully describedand claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 661,025, filed April10, 1946, but obviously may be any eicient waterproof type ofedge-to-edge closure or fastening device.

One type of such fastener is shown at I4 in Figure 3, wherein a pair oftapes I2 have secured thereto rubber strips 2B respectively, which meetin a tongue and groove 28 or other edge lock adapted to keep the edgesflush. To these strips I2 is secured a standard slide fastener as shownat I0, which fastener is disposed within the recess 30 in which is alsodisposed the slide fastener' chain 24 and the anges of its slider. Alsosecured to tapes I2 are rubber strips I6, each having a hinging portionI8 of reduced cross section and a, lip portion l20. These strips i6 arealso recessed as at 22 to accommodate the inner edges of tapes I2 andvarious slide fastener elements. The more specic details of thisstructure and the functioning thereof are disclosed in detail in myaforementioned co-pending application.

Although in the garment illustrated, I have shown attached boots at thebottoms of the legs and un-slit elastic frusto-conical wrist closures atthe ends of the sleeves and a neck closure provided with a slidefastener to facilitate entry and removal, it should be understood thatany of these three devices may be used at each of such openings or anycombination of them at the sev- Thus, at the neck the garment may beintegrally secured to a helmet, as more particularly shown and describedin my cepending application, Serial No. 725,625, filed January 31, 1947,now Patent No. 2,496,836, dated February 7, 1950, and, if desired, ankleclosures may be provided instead of the boots, similar to the wristclosures I4 shown in the drawing of Figure 1; or either the ankles orthe wrists may be provided with elastic conical closures with slidefasteners running either diagonally, as shown at the neck in the caseillustrated in Figures 1 and 2, or parallel to the axis and preferablyfor a short distance on the sleeve or leg to a wider portion thereof, soas to facilitate entry and removal of the hands or feet.

I claim:

1. A water-tight neck closure which comprises a frusto-conical member ofthin resilient elastic material of low modulus of elasticity with itsbase adapted to be secured to a water-proof garment, cover or the likeand its upper edge to embrace the neck of the wearer and the sidessloping with an acute angle to the axis of said conical member, and saidcone being slit along a line starting at one side of the front of saidbase and extending along an approximately straight line to a pointbeyond the middle of the adjacent side at the upper rim of the conicalmember, and a Cil water-tight closure secured to the conical memberadjacent the edges of said slit, whereby to close and seal said slit.

2. A water-tight neck closure which comprises a frusto-conical member ofthin resilient elastic material of low modulus of elasticity with itsbase adapted to be secured to a water-proof garment or the like and itsupper edge to embrace the neck of the wearer and the sides sloping withan acute angle to the axis of said conical member, and said cone beingslit along a line starting at one side of the front of said base andextending along an approximately straight line to a point beyond themiddle of the adjacent side at the upper edge of the conical member, anda water-tight slide fastener secured to the conical member adjacent theedges of said slit, whereby to close and seal said slit and said slidefastener meeting said upper edge at an oblique angle and said conicalmember extending to a higher level on the side of the slide fastener orclosure where it forms the obtuse angle with its upper edge than on theopposite side where it forms the acute angle.

3. A water-tight garment including joined neck and body portions adaptedclosely to fit the wearer thereof, said neck portion comprising anon-continuous strip of rubber sheeting or equivalent material and saidbody portion having an access opening extending down the front thereofspaced to one side of the front center line of the body portion, theupper end of said access opening when the garment is worn by a manstanding erect being aligned with the lower end of the opening in saidneck portion, the lower end of said neck portion opening lying forwardlyof a substantially vertical line extending centrally through the earposition and the upper end of the neck portion opening lying on theother side of said vertical line and well above the upper edge of saidneck portion and terminating adjacent said ear position, and a slidefastener secured to the opposite sides of said openings for opening andclosing them.

4. A water-tight garment according to claim 3 wherein said neck and bodyportion openings when closed by said slide fastener lie adjacent to aplane tangent to the side of the neck portion and intersect the side ofthe chest and abdomen portions directly beneath the side of the neckportion.

5. A garment according to claim 3 wherein said neck portion is generallyfrusto-conical in shape, the length of said neck portion being such thatwhen in use said neck portion falls into approximately annular pleats toprovide freedom of neck movement.

HARVEY L. WILLIAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,836,392 Norton Dec. 15, 19311,915,818 Di Carra June 27, 1933 2,008,152 Nier July 16, 1935 l2,101,911 Lowenbraun et al. Dec. 11, 1937 2,306,488 Morner Dec. 29, 19422,385,816 Krupp Oct. 2, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 349,095Great Britain May 18, 1931

